


See How They Run

by BookLoverL



Series: A Little Bit Of Luck (At Just The Right Moment) [2]
Category: Grimm (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Case Fic, Diverges after S3E17, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-02
Updated: 2018-03-02
Packaged: 2019-03-26 02:05:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,507
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13847781
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BookLoverL/pseuds/BookLoverL
Summary: A few days after proposing to Juliette, Nick gets a case involving a missing person. Can he find the culprit in time?





	See How They Run

**Author's Note:**

> The universe this story is set in diverges from canon in Season 3 Episode 17. This story follows on from my short one-shot, "decision". If you haven't read that, all you need to know is that Kelly and Adalind never showed up, and so Nick proposed to Juliette, and they are now engaged.

 

It was a dark and stormy night.

 

Tina hurried across the car park, her coat drawn close about her shoulders. Quickly, she got into the car. She didn't check inside it first. She didn't want to spend a moment longer than necessary in the pouring rain.

 

That's why she didn't see the two men lying in wait for her. And that's why they were able to put a gun to the side of her head, and say, “Drive.”

 

-

 

Nick watched as Juliette fried the eggs they'd be eating for breakfast. She'd been his fiancee now for two whole days. He could still hardly believe it. Between her turning him down the first time, and all the trouble he'd put her through by being a Grimm, he'd been afraid she'd never agree to marry him at all.

 

But here they were. They were going to get married. He grinned.

 

“What're you so happy about this time in the morning?” she asked.

 

“Just thinking about what a beautiful fiancee I have,” he said.

 

“Aww,” she replied, and came over to kiss him. Just then, of course, his phone rang. He looked at Juliette apologetically, and answered it.

 

“Burkhardt.” He listened for a moment and then shut the phone off.

 

“Missing person,” he explained. “Gotta go, honey. I love you.”

 

“I love you too,” said Juliette. “No time for eggs first? They're done already.”

 

He grabbed one of the plates of eggs quickly, and ate the whole thing in less than a minute.

 

“There,” he said. “Thanks, Juliette. Now, I've really got to go.”

 

“Then go, sweetie! See you later, Nick,” said Juliette, smiling and waving him off. He smiled back, and jogged out the door.

 

-

 

“Guess what,” Nick said to Hank, who'd reached the station before him.

“What?” said Hank.

 

“Juliette,” said Nick, pausing for effect, “is now...”

 

He wiggled his eyebrows.

 

“Now what?” said Hank.

 

“My fiancee,” said Nick.

 

“Ooohhh!” said Hank. “As long as she doesn't become your ex-fiancee. That's the tricky part.”

 

“Well, I'm not you, Hank,” Nick told him. “What've we got?”

 

“Tina Seymour, age 31,” said Hank, gesturing to the picture of a blonde-haired woman on his screen. “Went out to a diner last night, never came back home to her boyfriend. He's really worried about her. We've got him waiting to be interviewed now.”

 

“Let's go, then,” said Nick.

 

The boyfriend, Mark Penny, was a short guy with dark hair, who was looking around the interview room rather nervously when Nick and Hank walked in.

 

“Mark Penny,” said Hank. “You called in about the disappearance of Tina Seymour. Thanks for that.”

 

“When did you last see her?” asked Nick.

  
“Ah, it was, ah, just yesterday morning when she left for work!” explained Mark, babbling. “I was gonna, ah, make her, ah, her favourite dinner, cause it's our five year anniversary, you see! But then she didn't show up, and I got so worried... It's not like her at all.”

 

His face shifted, growing large ears and whiskers, and Nick saw that Mark was a Maushertz. Unfortunately, Mark had clearly also seen Nick (who was still getting used to the idea that it was his eyes that gave him away), and scrambled backwards, away from the Grimm.

 

“A Grimm! Don't kill me! Please! I've never done anything wrong! I just wanted to find my girlfriend! Please don't kill her either if you do find her!”

 

Nick took a deep breath – people thinking he wanted to kill them was really getting old – and tried to reassure the startled Maushertz. “I'm not going to kill you,” he said. “I'm a cop. I just want to solve the case, and find your girlfriend. Alright?”

 

Mark looked back and forth between Nick and Hank, who was also doing his best to look reassuring. He still seemed to be debating running away and hiding, but, in the end, settled back down.

 

“Good,” said Nick, assuming his least threatening posture. “Now, is there anybody you can think of who might have wanted to hurt your girlfriend?”

 

“No! Everyone loves her!” said Mark. “She'd never hurt anyone. I mean, she even works at the thrift store...”

 

“Well,” said Hank, “if you think of anything, let us know.” He gave the Maushertz his card.

 

“Certainly! Of course! Just as long as you don't kill me...” Mark babbled. The pair of detectives left the room.

 

“Well, I think maybe we need to have a look at Tina's place of work,” said Nick.

 

-

 

“She was fine when she left here last night,” said Rebecca Perlman, identified as Tina's manager at the Pre-Loved thrift shop. “She was happy, even. She was so excited about her dinner with her boyfriend. Even with all the rain.”

 

“What time did she leave?” Nick asked.

 

“Let me see... well, her shift finished at six,” Rebecca explained. “So it was probably around quarter past six.”

 

Nick nodded thoughtfully. That'd put it after dark. “Did she leave with anyone else?” he asked.

 

“No,” said Rebecca. “She definitely left alone.”

 

“Were there any suspicious people around earlier in the evening?” he asked.

 

“Hmm... actually, there was a couple of tough looking types hanging around, about half an hour before that,” she said. “I can't remember what they looked like, though. Poor, maybe. I don't think they'd washed their hair in the last few days.”

 

“Well, if you think of anything else,” said Nick, “Give us a call.”

 

“Thank you, ma'am,” said Hank.

 

“Was she a Wesen?” Hank asked as they left the shop.

 

“Not as far as I can tell,” said Nick. “But the boyfriend was a Maushertz.”

 

“I figured he was something,” said Hank, chuckling. “You know, since that was pretty obvious.”

 

“Let's get the surveillance from the shop around the time Tina left,” Nick decided. “Maybe we'll see something there.”

 

-

 

Monroe paced back and forth along the floor of the spice shop.

 

“And we can't put anyone who isn't a Blutbad next to Auntie Muriel!” he was saying. “Or at least, nobody she's likely to try to eat...”

 

“Hey, Monroe,” said Rosalee, coming over and taking hold of his hands. “It'll be fine. All we need to do is to make a list of everybody who's coming, and a list of all the people each of them can't sit next to.”

 

“When you put it that way,” said Monroe dubiously. “I just don't want anyone to get eaten.” Rosalee opened her mouth as if to reply, but just at that moment, the doorbell rang, signifying the arrival of a customer. She held up her finger, as if to say that she'd only be a moment, and then scurried to the counter.

 

“Can I help you, sir?” she asked.

 

“I'm looking for the catch of the day,” said the customer, who was a dark-haired man somewhere in his thirties.

 

Rosalee's expression went cold. “I'm sorry, sir. We don't sell that any more.”

 

“You don't? I don't believe this. You must be hiding some Gebeiztlunge somewhere,” said the man, leaning forward threateningly.

 

“No, we're not,” said Rosalee. “I'm going to have to ask you to leave, sir.”

 

The man slammed his palms on the counter, face woging to reveal him as a Coyotl. Rosalee woged herself in reaction. “Where is it? Tell me!” the man demanded. Monroe, hearing the commotion, strode over to the counter, letting his eyes go red.

 

“My fiancee asked you to leave,” he said. “So leave.” The Coyotl looked at him, clearly not prepared to deal with an angry Blutbad in addition to a Fuchsbau.

 

“Fine, I'll just get it somewhere else,” he said, and fled the shop.

 

“Are you okay, Rosalee?” asked Monroe.

 

“I'm fine, Monroe,” she told him, smiling. “Thanks.”

 

-

 

“Burkhardt,” said Nick, answering his phone while he waited for the surveillance to come through. “Oh, hi, Monroe. What's up?” He listened for a moment. “They did what? Who was it?”A few more seconds passed. “A Coyotl. I see. Well, thanks. I'll keep an eye out.”

 

“What's that about a Coyotl?” asked Hank.

 

“One was at Rosalee's shop asking for pickled lungs,” explained Nick. “Monroe scared him off. Though what he wanted them for, I don't know. His information's out of date, anyway, because that shop hasn't sold human organs since we shut down the trafficking ring the first time.”

 

“I wish I hadn't asked,” said Hank. “It's not related to our missing person case, right?”

 

“I don't think so,” said Nick, “but you never know. I'm going to keep an eye out, anyway.”

 

“Got the surveillance for you, boys!” called Wu, jogging over to their desks. “Now hurry up and watch it so I can get back to planning my sad, lonely evening with my cat.”

 

“Thanks, Wu,” said Nick. He brought the surveillance up on screen, and watched it carefully. “Well, that's interesting,” he said.

 

“Oh, yeah,” said Hank. “We got two goons, loitering inside the shop, then leaving, then loitering outside the shop. And all that just ten minutes before Tina leaves.”

 

“Want me to try and identify them?” asked Wu.

 

“Sure,” said Hank. “Knock yourself out.”

 

“That's not the most interesting part,” said Nick, as soon as Wu had left. “They're both Coyotl.”

 

“So, you think they could be anything to do with the guy who wanted the pickled lungs?” asked Hank.

 

“Maybe,” said Nick.

 

-

 

On a back street, in an old warehouse, a man was slowly reorganising his LEGO collection. “Let's see...” he said. “We'll put the blue two-by-fours there, and the green ones here. Yes, that's good...”

 

Suddenly, he heard a clatter coming from the other side of the warehouse.

 

“Who's there?” he called, frightened. Another clatter sounded, and he ran away from the noise, scampering through the network of passageways between the shelves.

 

The clattering continued, and the man winced at what was clearly the sound of a shelf falling over. Still he ran, scarpering through the warehouse, until he reached the safest corner.

 

Somebody was already there.

 

Looking up at the furry, fanged face of the attacker, he screamed.

 

-

 

“So,” said Wu, “we found the identity of our mystery men.”

 

Nick looked at him expectantly.

 

“Do tell,” said Hank.

 

“Paulie Simmons, age 28, past convictions for petty theft, assault, attempted assault, and speeding. And Tim Grenville, age 26, past convictions for petty theft, attempted assault, and jaywalking,” explained Wu.

 

“Sounds like we should pay them a visit,” said Nick.

 

-

 

“I reckon we've got enough mice now, don't you, Tim?” said Paulie.

 

“Yeah, Paulie, these four'll give us a nice chase,” said Tim. “Shame I couldn't get the Gebeiztlunge. That'd've made things interesting.”

 

“We'll just have to stick with the back-up mix,” said Paulie. He looked across at the four captive Maushertz, all quivering with fear. It smelled good.

 

He unscrewed the whiskey flask the mix was in, and fed it to each of the mice in turn. Then he unfastened the chains holding them. They immediately started scrambling away, but with the mix they'd been given, they wouldn't be getting away very fast.

 

Thirty seconds after the mice had been released into the woods, the two Coyotl started running after them. The chase had begun.

 

-

The current address of both Simmons and Grenville was listed with their parole office as being in a trailer on the edge of the woods just outside city limits. Nick and Hank pulled up in the truck in the makeshift yard, and stepped out carefully, ready to draw their guns if they needed them. They walked over, and Nick knocked on the door of the trailer.

 

“Portland PD! Open up!” he called. There was no answer. He waited a moment, then kicked the door in. “This is Portland PD! We are coming in!” He entered the trailer, checking the corners, and Hank followed him.

 

“Looks like nobody's home,” said Hank. Nick looked around the inside of the trailer.

 

“Now, what would you say that looks like, Hank?” he asked.

 

“I'd say it looks like a jar full of pickled lungs,” said Hank. “From a rabbit or something.”

 

“Isn't that interesting,” said Nick. “Unfortunately, not actually illegal. Still, we're on the right track.” He stepped back out of the trailer. “Do you hear that?”

 

“Hear what?” said Hank.

 

“In the woods,” said Nick, and started jogging.

 

-

 

Nick barrelled through the woods towards the source of the noise, Hank barely keeping up behind him. He focused, determining which direction the sound was coming from, then dashed off, weaving his way through the trees. Before long, he reached the source of the noise: a pair of Coyotl, fully woged, standing over a frightened Maushertz, leering threateningly.

 

“Well well, little mouse,” said one of them. “Looks like we've found our dinner.”

 

“Portland PD! Step away from the victim!” called Nick. All three Wesen turned to look at him.

 

“Grimm!” said one of the Coyotl, clearly startled.

 

“That's right, I'm a Grimm!” Nick said, keeping his gun trained on the closer Coyotl's chest. “Now step away from the Maushertz.”

 

“Or what,” asked the other Coyotl, puffing up his chest.

 

“You know what,” said Nick. The first Coyotl backed away slowly, his hands in the air. But the second one lunged forward, going for Nick's throat with his teeth.

 

Nick dodged to the side, then hit the Coyotl over the head with his gun. He followed up with a knee to the chest, and then, with the Coyotl still reeling, punched him in the face. The Coyotl crumpled to the ground, out cold, and his face reverted back to that of Paulie Simmons.

 

Meanwhile, Hank had caught up, and was pointing his gun at the other Coyotl, now revealed to be Tim Grenville, and seemingly thinking of running away. The Maushertz on the ground had also transformed, revealing her to be the missing Tina Seymour.

 

“You're under arrest,” Nick informed Grenville. “Hank, read him his rights.”

 

“You have the right to remain silent,” Hank began. “Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law.” Nick tuned out Hank's voice, and stretched his hearing out into the forest.

 

He was right. Someone or something was still out there.

 

He jogged onwards through the woods, quickly reaching the source of the noise. It was two more people, a man and a woman, stumbling through the forest, almost as if drunk. He saw them woge into Maushertz, then revert to normal.

 

“Hey!” he called, drawing their attention. “Are you two okay?”

 

“Shh! They'll find us, and then they'll kill us!” said the female Maushertz, panicked.

 

“Hey, hey, it's alright. I'm a cop,” explained Nick. “I'm not letting anyone kill you.”

 

“Those two guys kidnapped us and brought us out here,” said the man. “I was supposed to be on a business trip. I don't think my family even knows I'm gone!”

 

“There were just two of them? Two Coyotl?” asked Nick.

 

“Yes, I only saw two,” said the man. “They drugged us with something. I hope they didn't catch anyone...”

 

“How does he know they were Coyotl?” asked the woman. Both of them, still panicked, woged again, and this time they saw Nick's eyes.

 

“A Grimm!” cried the man. “Oh, no! This is even worse than the Coyotl!”

 

“Please don't kill us!” the woman squeaked.

 

“I'm here to protect you,” said Nick, putting his gun away and spreading his hands wide in a gesture of friendliness. “I'm a cop. I promise I'm not going to kill you. Look, my partner and I already found both the Coyotl. We saved Tina Seymour from them.”

 

“A Grimm who's a cop?” said the man disbelievingly. Nick took out his badge to show to them.

 

“Is there anyone else out here who might be drugged?” he asked.

 

“There were, there were, uh, four of us at the start,” said the woman hesitantly. “Now please let us go!”

 

“You can go if you like,” said Nick, “but maybe you'd prefer to stick around for an ambulance to get here. You know, since you've been drugged, and all.”

 

“You're really not going to kill us?” asked the woman.

 

“I am definitely not going to kill you,” said Nick. “When the ambulance arrives, I'll get somebody to come and find you, okay?” The Maushertz nodded, and Nick stretched out with his hearing once more. Finding what he was looking for, he walked for a couple of minutes until he reached the location of the remaining kidnap victim.

 

“You're not them! Thank God! Please help me!” the man cried.

 

“Don't worry, I'm with Portland PD,” said Nick. “We caught them. You're safe now.”

 

“Oh, thank God!” said the man.

 

“Let's get you and the other victims to an ambulance, alright?” Nick told him.

 

-

 

The ambulance arrived ten minutes later, along with several back-up police officers. Nick and Hank handed over the two arrested Coyotl, both now awake, with Nick glaring at them both as they were dragged off, to remind them that he was watching them. The four Maushertz were all being ushered into ambulances, still incredibly off-balance from whatever the Coyotl had given them. Nick picked up his phone and dialled a number.

 

“Rosalee? It's Nick,” he said. “We've got some Maushertz here who were given some sort of pickled rabbit lung mix by the Coyotl. Can the hospital handle them, or do they need something else?” He waited a moment for Rosalee's response.

“I'll pick up the antidote later, then,” he said. “We can take it to them at the hospital. Thanks, Rosalee.” He shut off the phone, and looked over at Hank.

 

“I still can't believe they made anything using actual pickled lung,” said Hank.

 

“At least no-one was seriously hurt,” said Nick.

 

“I swear, these cases get weirder all the time,” said Wu, who was passing by. “Pickled rabbit lung? Seriously?”

 

-

 

Nick stopped by the spice shop on his way home.

 

“Hi, Rosalee,” he said as he entered. “Is that antidote ready yet?”

 

“Almost,” she said.

 

“Our seating plan for the wedding is ready,” said Monroe, walking round the corner.

 

“Good to hear,” said Nick. “Where are me and Juliette?”

 

“Well, as the best man and the maid of honour, you're at the table with us, of course,” said Monroe. “Along with my parents, and Rosalee's family.”

 

“I won't have to stop your parents from killing anyone again, right?” asked Nick.

 

“Well, I hope not,” said Monroe. “We should probably introduce them to everybody before the ceremony, now that I think about it...”

 

“Oh, speaking of weddings,” said Nick, “Juliette and I are engaged.”

 

“Oh, wow!” said Rosalee. “I'm so happy for you.”

 

“Yeah, nice one, Nick,” said Monroe. “You need any help with the planning...”

 

“Well, we haven't really started that part yet,” said Nick. “Probably best if we wait until you two are married first.” He smiled.

 

“Hmm, good point. Better not get too carried away,” said Monroe.

 

“Anyway, let's go give those poor Maushertz this antidote,” said Rosalee.

 

“I'll stay and watch the shop,” said Monroe. “Wouldn't want to scare them any more than necessary.”

 

-

 

Nick and Rosalee made short work of delivering the antidotes to the Maushertz, using the excuse of Nick being the officer who'd rescued them in order to get into the patients' rooms. All four were very grateful.

 

“You want anything, any time,” said Mark, Tina's boyfriend, “we'll be happy to help. Well, as long as it's not too scary. We're very thankful that you didn't kill us, Mr Grimm, sir! And that you helped us instead!”

 

“Well, I was happy to help,” said Nick.

 

-

 

It was long past dusk by the time Nick returned home. He opened the door carefully, then called, “Juliette? Are you here?”

 

“In the kitchen, Nick!” Juliette replied. Nick went in, and discovered Juliette was cooking a late dinner. He put his arms around her, playfully reaching out to try and sample the stew

 

“Hey!” she said. “No eating it before it's ready. It's got another ten minutes yet.”

 

“Alright, alright,” said Nick. “It's just that it smells so good.”

 

“Did you find your missing person?” Juliette asked.

 

“We did, actually,” said Nick. “It turned out two Coyotl had kidnapped her and several others so they could run some sort of hunt in the woods. We found them before anyone was hurt, fortunately.”

 

“Coyotl,” said Juliette. “That's a type of Wesen?”

 

“Yeah, they're sort of like coyotes, only they usually come in groups,” explained Nick. “And the victims were all Maushertz. They're sort of like mice.”

 

“Weird,” said Juliette. “Are they doing okay?”

 

“Yeah,” said Nick, “all the Maushertz are going to recover. And the Coyotl are both locked up.”

 

“That's good,” Juliette replied. She turned around and kissed him. “All in a day's work for my fiance.” Nick grinned, and kissed her back.

 

“Let's not get too carried away,” sai d Nick. “It'd be a shame to waste this delicious-smelling stew.”

 

“Especially after all the work I put into it,” said Juliette. “But afterwards, perhaps you can show me something sweet for dessert.”

 

“That, I can definitely manage,” said Nick, and went to set the table.

 


End file.
